“No.”
He nods. “You’ve already said that. You don’t have to go. Now, youdoneed to pack your stuff up because you’re being moved to a house.”
My gaze whips up, and nerves immediately settle in my chest, making my throat close.
This could be worse than hell house.
“I’ll be driving you this afternoon.”
“Where?”
“It’s a ranch about three hours from here. The owners, Debbie and Ray, are really good people, and you’re going to spend the summer with them.”
I get to spend the summer on a ranch? It feels like I just won the lottery.
“Ryker is going with you.”
Nope. Didn’t win the fucking lottery.
“I’m not going.”
“Unfortunately, this isn’t something you have a choice in. You have thirty minutes to pack your bag.”
He stands, like that’s the end of the conversation.
“What if I refuse?”
Reggie sighs and shakes his head. “You don’t get to refuse, Gideon. You’re fifteen, and you go where the state says you go. But I can tell you that it’s better than here. If you give it a chance, you just might like it.”
It’s a big freaking house.
That’s the first thing that comes to mind when Reggie comes to a stop in front of the house on the ranch and cuts the engine. Ryker and I are both quiet as we take it in.
It looks like something out of a movie. A gigantic house with mountains in the background that don’t look real. There’s a wraparound porch, and an older couple standing on the steps, who meet us when we all get out of the car.
Reggie sets our bags at our feet.
“Ryker, Gideon, I want to introduce you to Ray and Debbie,” Reggie says.
Ryker steps forward to shake Ray’s hand, and then Ray turns to me and shakes mine too.
“Hello,” I mumble, looking him in the eye. He doesn’t look mean. His hand is firm, but not too rough.
“I’m Deb,” the little wisp of a woman says, folding me down in her arms. She’sso short. So little, I’m afraid I might break her if I hug her too hard, and she’s clinging to me like I’m her own kid.
I look at Ryker over her shoulder, and he just shrugs.
“You’ll be staying in the bunkhouse with the hands,” Ray tells us, and starts to explain what’s expected of us out here. “I have one hard rule.”
He narrows his eyes now, making sure we’re listening to him as he gestures to Debbie.
“This is mywife. The love of my life. The only reason I do anything. No one sasses her on this ranch. You treat her with the kindness and respect that she’ll show you. You’ll get no second chances. If I find out that you even look at her sideways, you’re out of here. Everything else we’ll figure out as we go.”
Watching them together makes my stomach hurt.
I wish my dad had loved my mom like that.
“Yes, sir,” I mutter along with Ryker, and then there’s a girl riding up to us on a horse, her blond hair blowing around her. She looks about our age.
